Sargent at play at the MFA
Santa Maria della Salute, 1904Even in his lifetime, John Singer Sargent was aware of the critical rap against him: all flash, no substance - indeed, serious modernists still frown at the mention of his name. But he wasn't much interested in his critics. "I don't dig beneath the surface for things that don't appear before my eyes," the artist once said, and when he pondered the likes of Cézanne or Gauguin, he s…